Two for Tea
by Mikauzoran
Summary: Kaito and Conan team up to solve the case when Hakuba is kidnapped for poking his nose into the wrong cold case. With a serial killer on the loose, the two race against the clock to find and rescue the blonde detective. Along the way, they get to know each other better and become friends…and maybe a little bit more?
1. The Disappearance

Mikau: Hello and welcome! It's nice to meet you/good to see you again! Thank you so much for taking an interest in my work. I plan for this to be a short little three-shot. I hope you enjoy it!

Disclaimer: If I owned it, I would let Mouri solve a few more cases on his own. People are going to get suspicious if he only remembers a handful of the cases that he's solved. Plus, I feel sorry for the guy. Being knocked out so many times has got to be bad for his health.

…

Chapter One: The Disappearance

"Conan-kun!" Ran called. "Ayumi-chan is on the phone!"

"Coming!" The shrunken sleuth rushed into the office and stood on tiptoe to reach the phone on top of the desk. "Got it! Hi, Ayumi-chan. What's going on?"

"Conan-kun! It's just awful!" the elementary school girl wailed into the receiver.

"What happened?" The detective tensed, hoping that none of the Detective Boys had been kidnapped…again.

"I'm at Beika Central Park sitting on the bench underneath the clock by the fountain. Come as soon as you can, Conan-kun!" The line went dead.

"Oi, Ayumi! Ayumi!" Conan called out to her anyway. "Dammit," he cursed grabbing his gear and shouting a quick goodbye up the stairs at Ran.

Conan reached the park in ten minutes flat, but the only one sitting on the bench under the clock by the fountain was a high school student that looked remarkably similar to Kudo Shinichi.

The lookalike was leafing through a newspaper, not really reading it. He alternated between looking at his watch and glancing expectantly at his cell phone every thirty seconds or so. He'd sigh intermittently and switch from crossing his left leg over his right to his right over the left or vice versa.

Once, his phone beeped, signaling that he'd gotten a text, and the teen jumped, hurried to read the message, and then looked crestfallen and a little pissed once he had. Apparently it hadn't been from the person he was anxiously waiting for.

After about five minutes of this, the teen finally looked up and spotted Conan studying him. He smiled.

'_Crap.'_ Conan bit his lip and tried to decide if he should run or not as the teen got up from the bench and started walking right at him.

"You're Edogawa Conan, aren't you?" the teen sighed in relief. "Kid-sama said you'd come. What did he tell you?"

Conan blinked. "What?"

"Kid-sama promised he could set up a meeting with you for me. I was gonna go talk to Sleeping Kogoro, but Kid-sama said that you'd be able to help me better. I don't know what the hell he's thinking, sending me to see a kid with a huge case like this, but I trust him, so will you help me or not, Tantei-kun?" The teen put his hands on his hips and frowned, looking for all the world like a giant child.

Conan blinked again. "Ah. So that call from Ayumi-chan was really from Kid, huh? And you would be…let me guess…his accomplice? No. More likely you yourself are Kid; I'd know that face anywhere. No wonder you're able to disguise as me with such ease," the detective scoffed.

"My name's Kuroba Kaito, and I'm Kid's biggest fan. He's disguised as me a couple times for various stuff, since I'm in close with the Kaitou Kid Taskforce. It's not surprising that you think I'm him, but I'm really not, and we're wasting time, Tantei-kun. The sooner we crack this case, the better," Kaito insisted.

Conan rolled his eyes. "'Kuroba Kaito'? Please. That's just a play on the words Clover and Kaitou. If you're going to come up with a phony name for yourself, at least be clever."

"What? Like _you_, Mister Edogawa Ranpo plus Sir Arthur Conan Doyle?" Kaito snorted. "I'm not Kid, that's my real name, and my best friend has been kidnapped, so can we take this a little more seriously, please?"

Conan stared at the teen for a second and then his brow furrowed and he pursed his lips. "Have you spoken with the police?"

Kaito nodded sadly. "They don't consider a person missing until they've been gone at least a day, so my one hour doesn't cut it. They can't help me until tomorrow, and by then the trail could go cold or evidence could be destroyed or it might even be too late. He told me once that in kidnapping cases, the first days are key. With every day—or even hour—that goes by, the likelihood of finding them alive…" Kaito's eyes screwed closed and he squeezed his fists tightly, wincing at the thought of his friend being killed.

"Don't worry. I'll help you, and I'm good at finding people. We'll get your friend back, but…if you don't mind me asking, how do you know they've been kidnapped, if they've only been missing for an hour?"

Kaito smiled fondly and rolled his eyes. "Because he's neurotic. We were supposed to meet here at 10:15, but he didn't show. I called and texted him and waited another fifteen minutes, but he didn't come. I tried to contact him again with no luck, so I tried the home number, but he wasn't there, and his nanny said he'd left at seven and she hadn't heard from him since. So I went to the café where he was supposed to be meeting an informant at nine and asked around. The staff said that he'd been there. He's fairly conspicuous, so it's easy to notice and remember him. The waitress said that he'd paid and left, but in the back hall where the restroom is, I found this." Kaito pulled out a golden pocket watch. "That's when I knew something was horribly wrong."

"Because you found a pocket watch?" Conan was beginning to doubt the legitimacy of this case.

"It's not just a pocket watch," Kaito snorted. "It's his _grandfather's_ pocket watch. Just look at this thing. It's spotless and the damn thing only loses one one thousandth of a second every year. You see what good care he takes of the thing; it's precious to him, and he wouldn't just _lose_ it. He'd be tearing up Tokyo trying to find it if it were simply lost. No. Either it was left behind because someone prevented him from retrieving it—kidnappers—or he left it behind so that we would know he'd been kidnapped and come and save him."

"Alright. Sounds like we've got a case," Conan sighed. He'd had nothing better to do today anyway. "Just who is this guy anyway?"

"You know him. OCD, total nerd, socially awkward, walks around in inverness and a deerstalker. His name's Hakuba Saguru."

Conan's mouth dropped open. "Kid is best friends with Hakuba Saguru, the Commissioner's son?"

"I'm not Kid, remember?" Kaito smirked. "Now help me find Hakuba."

"It sounds like you've done some preliminary investigation yourself, but let's go back to the scene of the crime and see if we can pick up some more clues. Lead the way?"

"Sure!" Kaito scooped Conan up, slung him onto his back and started running.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Conan screeched, wrapping his arms around Kaito's neck and holding on for dear life.

"Time is of the essence, Tantei-kun, so just bear with me." Kaito shrugged, vaulting over a park bench and a shrub. "The café's just across the street once you exit the park."

"You're just as crazy in real life," Conan gasped.

"I'm crazier," Kaito chuckled, exiting the park and dashing across the street just as the light turned red. "Now arriving at Nancy's Café," Kaito announced as he came to a stop. "He takes me here all the time. They have the best milk shakes!"

"Are you two dating or something?" Conan mumbled under his breath as he tried to smooth down his hair. The wind had messed it up entirely, making it stick out at odd angles…odder angles, anyway.

Kaito, however, looked just charming with windblown hair. Shinichi was secretly jealous. They looked practically the same; why did Kuroba have better luck with his hair than Shinichi? He decided to blame it on the apotoxin. Shinichi had always looked sexy; it was Conan that was the problem.

"Show me where you found the pocket watch. We'll start there," Conan said, taking charge of the case.

"Just this way." Kaito led him to the back of the café and stopped in front of the restrooms. "Here." Kaito pointed to a little decorative table up against the back wall that was full of strange whatnots and antiques. "It was right here with the tea things. In the teacup, actually. Now that I think of it, it actually looks pretty natural there with the other antiques. I only noticed it because I know that watch."

Conan frowned as he paced the hallway, getting down on his hands and knees to investigate.

Kaito stood back and let the detective do his thing.

"No signs of a struggle. It's most likely they had a gun, forcing him to come along quietly." Next Conan turned to the bathroom and gave it the same intense scrutiny. He paused and studied the window. "They took him out this way. This window has been opened recently, but before that it usually remained closed. You can tell it had settled in place and had to be forced open."

Kaito wondered how one went about telling that from just looking at a window. Detectives really blew his mind. They just looked at stuff and could tell you what you had for breakfast a week ago.

"There's blonde hair on the floor," Conan noted, taking photos before bagging the evidence. "He probably left it behind on purpose."

"When you're done in here, I think we should take a look at the booth where Hakuba met with his informant. There might be a clue or something left there if Hakuba noticed something strange before he was ambushed and carried off."

"You know what booth he was in? What, did you ask the waitress or something?" Conan looked up in curiosity at the magician.

Kaito shrugged. "Hakuba's a creature of habit. The third booth to the left by the window when you walk in is _our_ booth. The third one to the right is the one he uses when he meets clients and informants. It's right by the kitchen, so it's super noisy. No one likes sitting there, so it's private and safe to talk…if you don't mind the noise."

"You have your own booth?" Conan rolled his eyes.

"I told you that Hakuba's neurotic." Kaito shrugged.

"Lead the way," Conan sighed.

Kaito took him to the booth in the back corner and pointed to the seat facing the door. "That's his seat. He likes to be able to see the rest of the restaurant, just in case."

They began to search the booth, but nothing exceptional turned up until Conan got down on his hands and knees and looked under the table.

"There's a note stuck to the underside!" Conan remarked.

Kaito nodded in understanding as he retrieved the note. "So that even if they cleaned the table, the clue would still be there because no one cleans the underside of the table. Clever."

"What's the note say?" Conan prodded, standing up on the seat part of the booth and leaning over the table to try to get a peek.

"'Kai, two men in black trench-coats have been tailing me. Not sure if they're some of yours or have something to do with one of my cases. Working three cold cases now. Feel free to check my desk (because I know you'll let yourself in anyway). SH'"

Kaito gulped.

Conan's whole body was shaking. "Did he say men in black?"

"Trench-coats, dammit," Kaito hissed.

"What did he mean 'if they're some of yours'?" Conan pried.

Kaito closed his eyes and clenched his fists. "He always teases me because he thinks I'm Kid. The trench-coats show up at Kid heists sometimes and use Kid-sama for target practice…. You have something against guys who wear black? Your face looks a little pale. And are you trembling in fear or excitement?"

"A little of both, actually. If it's really them, I finally have another lead." Conan smirked.

"_And_ Hakuba's dead. Secret Evil Organizations don't leave the people they kidnap alive long…. These aren't the people that did…_that_ to you, are they, Tantei-kun?"

"Yeah…. The men in black. So you've got yourself an Evil Organization too, Kid?" Conan inquired.

"_Kaito_," the thief corrected. "You know, they're probably one and the same—different factions or something—'cause I doubt there's enough room in Tokyo for two Secret Evil Organizations."

"You're probably right. Let's speculate later and get back to finding Hakuba."

"Right," Kaito sighed, praying that it was just some petty criminal trying to shut Hakuba up over a cold case. "Where to next, Meitantei?"

"Let's check outside the window first to see if we can find some footprints or anything else Hakuba might have left behind for us."

"Un," Kaito nodded, following close behind the super sleuth.

…

:)i(:

Mikau: (It's a butterfly.) What do you think? (Not about the butterfly.) This is my first time writing a story about investigating a case, so I'm really wondering how it was. If you have a minute, I'd appreciate it if you left some feedback. For instance, what you liked, what you didn't, what was funny, what fell flat, etc. Thanks in advance! Hope to see you again soon!


	2. Continuing the Investigation

Mikau: Hi everyone! Thanks so much for coming back for more! Hopefully I won't disappoint. Thank you so much to all of you who reviewed! Cryaotic-Sora, lollipoploves, Assasin8, moo, Great, PheonixShadow, and zek, thank you, truly. I really appreciated your feedback. And now a shameless plug: I have a new fic called Demon in Thief's Clothing. Check it out! Kaito and Shinichi are vampires, and Hakuba ends up Kaito's slave. Read the real summary. The real summary is a lot better. And now on to chapter two! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: If I owned it, I would have run out of ways to murder people a loooong time ago. As evidenced by my skill in writing actual mysteries, demonstrated in this fic.

…

Chapter Two: Continuing the Investigation

"It looks like there were two men, judging by the footprints." Conan gave Kaito a rudimentary rundown of the scene just outside the bathroom window. "One big, tall one and another of about average height and build. I'm assuming that the third set, made by some very expensive shoes, belongs to Hakuba-san. It looks like they made him walk a little bit ahead of them. You can tell because some of their footprints overlap his. The big guy looks to be in charge. He takes big, confident strides while the average guy scuttles along behind him."

"You know, I looked at the same thing you did, and all I saw was an indecipherable mess of footprints," Kaito chuckled, looking down at the sleuth in awe. "You're amazing, Tantei-kun."

Conan shrugged, blushing faintly. He wasn't used to being praised for such simple deductions. In fact, it'd been a long time since anyone had praised him for his sharp detective work. Mouri had been getting all of the credit for the past year or so. It felt good to be acknowledged again. He'd try not to get such a big head this time. "Thanks, Kuroba."

"Got any more tricks up your sleeves?" Kaito looked at him hopefully.

"Plenty." Conan smirked. "But for now let's check and see if anyone saw these guys. The big guy is almost as tall as Hakuba-san himself, and, like you said, a tall blonde like Hakuba-san is kind of conspicuous. People will probably remember seeing two giants walking down the street."

They started down the road, looking for witnesses, but they didn't have much luck until they came to an old man selling trinkets out of a stall.

"I remember them well. The young man said that he was thirsty and asked if they could stop to buy something to drink. It looked like they were in a real hurry because the big guy wasn't very happy about stopping, and the other guy was fidgeting and looking all nervous," the old man recalled.

"Do you remember what they were wearing?" Conan continued to milk the witness for vital information.

He shook his head. "Not really. Nothing fancy. The young man was the only one dressed up. The other two were just wearing slacks and maybe a button-down shirt or was it a polo? Hmm. I can't remember."

"So they weren't wearing black trench-coats?" Conan frowned.

"Hmm. They were carrying jackets of some kind. I'm not sure if they were trench-coats. Ah! That young man. He bought these along with some tea and told me to give them to you!" the shopkeeper exclaimed, pulling two cell phone straps out of his pocket. "I almost forgot. He slipped them to me when he was paying for the tea and whispered to give them to the brunette that came asking about him. That must mean you." The man handed the straps to Kaito.

The magician blinked. "A sheep and a rooster? What the hell is wrong with that stupid detective, buying zodiac phone straps at a time like this?"

"They must be a clue if he risked upsetting the kidnappers to get them to you." Conan shrugged.

"Kidnappers?!" the old man exclaimed in shock.

Kaito nodded. "Yeah. That stupid blonde got himself kidnapped by those guys you saw him with." Kaito wrote down his number and handed it to the shopkeeper. "Please give me a call if you remember anything else, and thanks for your help."

They followed the trail of witnesses to Beika Station, but, once there, there was no telling where Hakuba and his abductors had gone.

"Security camera footage might give us some clue, but we won't be able to get that ourselves," Conan sighed, scratching his head.

"I could disguise myself as a cop," Kaito offered, desperate to find his…Conan wasn't exactly sure what his relation to Hakuba-san was.

Conan shook his head. "Don't bother. It'll be good evidence once we catch these guys and they go to trial, but I doubt the footage will give us any good leads. Most likely it'll show them getting on a train, but these trains go everywhere. There would be no way of telling where they'd gone."

Kaito sighed, sinking down onto the park bench by the fountain. "What now?"

"Maybe if we could solve whatever case he was working on that got him into trouble, we'd be able to track down the culprit." Conan tried to cheer Kaito up. "He said he was working on three cold cases, didn't he?"

"Yeah." Kaito nodded. "So we should head to the Hakuba Manor?"

"That's what I was thinking. Lead the way?"

"Yes, Sir!" Kaito gave a sharp salute before throwing Conan onto his back again.

"You don't need to carry me, if we're just taking the train," Conan grumbled as his cheeks turned a peachy pink.

"I like carrying you," Kaito chortled, amused at the shrunken teen's discomfort.

They arrived twenty minutes later at the Hakuba Manor, and Baaya quickly ushered them in.

"Well?" the normally polite woman snapped in greeting.

"We have a description of the kidnappers, a handful of witnesses, and knowledge that they took him as far as Beika Station, but we don't know where they went from there," Kaito offered a summary of their investigation.

Baaya sighed and looked utterly distraught. "There's been no ransom demand, and he's not picking up his phone. I can't get ahold of his father either. Where are my manners? I'm sorry. Can I offer you boys some tea or something?"

"Nah. We'll just raid Hakuba's mini-fridge. We're going up there to take a look at the cases he'd been working on, if that's okay, Baaya?" Kaito tilted his head to the side.

The caretaker nodded, wringing her hands. "If you think that will give you a lead, by all means, Kaito-kun."

"Thanks, Baaya. And don't worry. We'll get him back," Kaito assured with a smile before leading Conan up to Hakuba's room.

Kaito went on in like he owned the place and went straight to the desk. He pulled out three manila file folders and turned on the desktop PC. He only paused a second when the password screen came up before confidently typing.

"Do you come here often?" Conan raised an eyebrow as he looked around Hakuba Saguru's room.

The entire wall by the bed was covered with photographs and newspaper and magazine clippings of the Kaitou Kid. Well, except for the one section filled with stalker pictures of Kuroba Kaito.

"He stalks you!" Conan squeaked.

"Yeah. I stalk him too. He started it, but I turned it into a game. Then it became an art-form." Kaito smirked, pulling up the corresponding computer files for the cases.

"Geez. You're _both_ weirdoes," Conan snorted as Kaito handed him the hard copies.

"Yep. That's why we get along so well. Well, now that we've stopped wanting to bite each other's heads off, anyway. Now take a look at the files and work your tantei magic," Kaito commanded, going over to the bed and pulling a book out from under the mattress.

Conan raised an eyebrow in suspicion.

"Diary," Kaito replied to the unasked question with a shrug of his shoulder.

"You really do stalk him!" Conan balked, looking at Kaito as if he thought the magician were a pervert.

Kaito put his hands on his hips and pouted, "_He_ started it! _He_ went through my underwear drawer! I told you it's a game, and I have a bit of a competitive streak. I had to one-up him, so I bugged his place. Know your enemy and all that. _The files_, Tantei-kun."

"Right." Conan wasn't going to ask. "It looks like this first one is just a run-of-the-mill robbery. The crook got away with about 45,000 yen worth of stuff. I don't see this guy turning kidnapper."

"What's the next one?" Kaito inquired, pacing as he leafed through the diary.

"Arson case from two years ago." Conan's brow furrowed. "The house isn't too far from here, actually. Looks like the fire started in the young mistress's room on the first floor. There was evidence that it could possibly be an outsider, but they also say it could have been the young lady herself. She burned to death, but there was no evidence that she tried to escape. Could just be a suicide." Conan shrugged. "She was the only victim. Abeno Ayaka, age twenty-one."

Kaito set down the diary and came up behind the couch to look over Conan's shoulder. "Is there a list of suspects?"

"Yeah." Conan flipped around a bit until he found the page. "The cook Yamada Yoshitomo; the young trophy wife, Abeno Akiko; Akiko-san's lover, Satou Shinosuke; the gardener, Namikawa Naoto; the butler, Tanaka Takeshi; and a maid that had just been fired, Watanabe Mika."

"She's the one Hakuba met at Nancy's today!" Kaito shouted. "Does it say anything else?"

"Just a bit of chicken scratch in French…and English. Geez, pick a language and stick with it. Don't switch mid-sentence. I can't even read his Japanese," Conan sighed, scratching his head.

"Here. I'm pretty fluent in Hakuba," Kaito offered with a chuckle. "I had to learn so I could read his notes on Kid-sama."

Kaito squinted as he studied the seemingly random markings. "Well, I can tell you what it says, but you'll have to explain to me what it means," Kaito remarked after a minute. "He says: 'The cases are linked. Teacup already in the room. Tied up with sheets.' There's a little more, but my French isn't that good."

"'The cases are linked.'" Conan muttered. "I can't imagine he's talking about the theft case. Let's look at the other one. Maybe then things will make a little more sense."

The pint-sized detective picked up the third and final folder and looked very concerned when he'd opened it.

"What?" Kaito pressed. "I don't like that face you're making; make a different one. It's not _that_ bad, is it?" The magician began to chew nervously on his lip.

"No wonder Hakuba-san left his pocket watch in the teacup." Conan closed the file and turned to look at Kaito. "Have you ever heard of the Mad Hatter?"

"From the kid's book? Yeah. Why?" Kaito's head slowly tipped to the side. It was kind of cute.

"They started calling him that because he leaves a teacup by his victims' bodies. He's a serial killer, Kuroba."

Kaito blinked, mouthing the words 'serial killer'. "Hakuba's…investigating a serial killer?"

Conan nodded.

"I'm gonna deck him once we get him back," the magician seethed. "What the hell is he thinking?!" Kaito plopped down on the couch in a huff. "What else can you tell me about this Mad Hatter, guy, Tantei-kun? Are there any leads?"

"Well, there are seven known victims so far. The first case was about eight years ago, and they happened over the span of five years. Three years ago they just stopped. There really aren't any leads. All we really know is his MO. He ties the victims up, kills them, and leaves a teacup behind."

"Any method of killing in particular?" Kaito was almost afraid to ask.

"Um…he seems to like drawn out deaths where the victim struggles and suffers. He's used a slow-acting poison twice, drown two of his victims, strangled two, and slit one's throat," Conan grimly reported.

"And this guy could have Hakuba?" Kaito barely whispered.

Conan didn't say anything. There was nothing he could do to reassure the magician. He sighed, flipping through the Mad Hatter file. "Wait. Hakuba-san said that the cases were connected, right?"

Kaito nodded half-heartedly.

"Can you pull up pictures of the crime scene from the arson case?"

"Sure," Kaito replied with a smile. Tantei-kun was making _that_ face—the one where he looked like a bloodhound on the scent.

Kaito went over to the computer and opened the files showing Ayaka's bedroom before and after the fire.

"There." Conan pointed to a small table in Ayaka's room with various plates and cups set out for tea. "There was already a teacup in the room. It says that Ayaka-san's body was discovered by that table. If she was tied up with a sheet or tablecloth or something and then killed by smoke inhalation or burned to death, this arson case fits the Mad Hatter's MO."

Kaito nodded, starting to understand. "I shouldn't be excited about this, but I am. If the Mad Hatter killed Ayaka-san and set the fire, all we have to do is solve the arson case, and we'll know who kidnapped Hakuba! Where's the suspect list?"

"Here." Conan got it out once more and held it up so that they could both see it. "This is it, Kuroba. I know we're on to something here. It fits the killing pattern, and Ayaka-san is within the age range of his other victims. We just have to figure out which of the suspects it is."

"Well, we can automatically rule out the females, so that leaves us with the cook, the gardener, the butler, and the wife's lover, right?"

"Un. Check and see if there are pictures of the suspects in the computer file," Conan instructed. "There aren't any in the hard copy. We know we're looking for a big guy. He's most likely to be the Hatter, but the accomplice might be one of these four guys too."

"No dice, Tantei-kun," Kaito sighed.

"Dammit. That really would have made our job a lot easier." Conan pursed his lips.

"What about the clue that Hakuba left us?" Kaito dug out the phone straps.

Conan looked intently at the sheep and the rooster. "I'm not sure. None of the suspects has any of the kanji characters for hitsuji or ondori in their names. I wouldn't think Hakuba-san would actually be referring to the suspects' birth years. I'll think about it, but that clue was left for you, Kuroba, so Hakuba must think it's something that you'll understand."

Kaito deadpanned. "The guy puts too much faith in me sometimes."

"I don't know. You're pretty good at writing riddles, I'd imagine you'd be good at cracking them too. That's all mysteries are—putting the pieces together, solving the riddle." Conan ran a hand through his hair before flipping to the police report of the arson case. "I'm going to go over witness testimony to see if I can come up with anything."

Kaito gave a little nod of acknowledgement before going over to lie on the bed and stare at the ceiling.

Half an hour later, Kaito was still rolling around, repeating the words hitsuji and ondori in his head while the little strap creatures themselves laughed at him from where they were stationed on the nightstand.

He looked at the suspect list again, wondering what in the world a sheep and a rooster had to do with a gardener, a lover, a butler, or a cook. And then it hit him. "The butler did it!"

Conan jumped nearly a foot off the computer chair. He turned slowly to look at Kaito sitting up on the bed. "Beg pardon?"

"The butler did it!" Kaito repeated with glee. "He left the clue for me, so it's most likely something simplistic. Hitsuji, meaning sheep, sounds like shitsuji, meaning butler! And it's not a rooster, but a cock! Cock sounds like cook! The butler and the cook!"

Conan blinked a few times. "It does seem from my reading the witness statements that the butler is suspicious. The maid said that she thought that the young mistress was blackmailing him for something, and the cook and the young mistress seemed to be lovers. The cook and the butler acted as each other's alibi, so it could be very possible that the cook and the butler did it."

"What do we do now, Tantei-kun?" Kaito asked eagerly.

"We go to the police."

…

**_l:::::l****10/6**

. (^ . ^) **c\ /**

Mikau: It's the Mad Hatter! So how did the chapter turn out? What did you think? We're slowly getting there. I'm planning for the next chapter to be the last, unless I get any sparks of brilliant inspiration. It'll be longer than the first two. Look forward to it! Hope to see you again soon! Please leave your feedback on the way out. Thanks in advance!


	3. The Rescue

Mikau: Hey, guys! How's it going? I hope you're all well. Thanks for tuning in once more for the third and final (unless I get hit with any brilliant ideas or get omake requests) chapter of Two For Tea. Thanks for sticking with me so far. Thanks as well to all of you who reviewed: Assasin8, PheonixShadow, Great, Kyoneko87, Aniki-xvi, Conien18, and Eyeinthesky. I really appreciate all of your feedback and support. Today we have the rescue. I hope you enjoy it!

Disclaimer: If I owned it, there would really be an episode or so like this story where Kid and Conan have to work together to save the day. I really liked that about the fourteenth movie. Our favorite heroes need to team up more often.

…

Chapter Three: The Rescue

"What do we do now, Tantei-kun?" Kaito sighed. He was getting tired of waiting and sitting still at the police station.

"We wait," Conan sighed. "Neither of us has the resources to track credit card records and stuff like that. We wait until the police come up with an address or something."

"Or…" Kaito did a quick change into a police uniform. "We go investigate for ourselves. There's a computer right there that nobody's using." Kid smirked; Conan recognized that grin.

Conan rolled his eyes. "Alright."

Twenty minutes later they had pictures, addresses, and phone numbers for Tanaka Takeshi and Yamada Yoshitomo.

"Tanaka looks like he could be our big guy," Kaito muttered.

"And Yamada looks like the kind of guy that would leave behind the footprints we found for the accomplice," Conan confirmed.

"It took me twenty minutes to do this; why is it taking the police so long?" Kaito growled.

"They have to go back over everything we've already done." Conan shrugged. "Search for factories, abandoned buildings, and construction sites within thirty miles of Tanaka's address."

"There's ten," Kaito sighed. "We're gonna have to search _all_ of them?"

Conan shook his head. "Just these three." He pointed to the spots on the map.

Kaito raised an eyebrow. "How…you know what? I don't care how you deduced that. Let's just pretend you're magic and go. Where to first?"

"Beika Station. We'll take the train to Haido Station and see if we can find some witnesses to point us in the right direction from there."

"Rodger!" Kaito saluted before slinging Conan over his shoulder and onto his back once more. The police uniform came off in transit, and they were en route to the train station.

Once they arrived at Haido Station, they did some asking around, showing pictures of Hakuba, Tanaka, and Yamada. They followed the leads, but eventually the trail went cold.

"We're close by that one warehouse, though," Kaito pointed out. "Which way is it?"

"Go left," Conan directed. "It'll be straight ahead on the right side. Once we get there, I'll let you call the shots as far as building infiltration and reconnaissance goes. You're the expert."

"And don't forget it." Kaito winked, heading to the left.

The warehouse was a little on the spooky side, housing old carnival rides and parade floats. They looked almost sinister in the dim lighting. The whole place was run down. The siding was falling off, and even the doorknobs were getting a little rusty.

"Where do we start, Kuroba?" Conan whispered, afraid to make too much noise.

"The roof. Hold on," Kaito returned, pulling out some sort of grappling hook/suction cup gun. Where had he been keeping that?

Kaito took aim and fired up at the roof, he pulled on the rope, making sure it would hold them before he started inching his way up.

Conan couldn't help but be impressed at Kid's upper body strength.

When they'd made it safely to the roof, Kaito headed over to the skylights, peering in to see if he could spot the detective or his captors. Unfortunately all he saw was parade floats covered in creepy clowns.

Kaito motioned for Conan to follow as he carefully moved from window to window. After he finished, he sighed in discouragement. "Tantei-kun, I don't see anybody, but let's head inside and check it out anyway, just to be sure."

Conan nodded, consenting to be put back on Kaito's back.

Kaito attached his grappling hook thingy to the roof and made sure it was secured before he opened one of the skylights and lowered them in. They dropped down onto a catwalk and took a look from above before heading down below to continue their search.

Regrettably, this warehouse was a bust. There was no sign of Hakuba or the kidnappers.

Kaito and Conan headed out the front door, shoulders slumped and glum looks on their faces.

"I'd really thought that this would be it," Kaito mumbled. He looked down at Conan for comfort and guidance.

"There's another candidate just a few streets over," Conan reminded. "It's too early to be giving up yet."

Kaito nodded, setting out for the next possible site.

On their way there, they passed a convenience store, and who should walk out but Yamada Yoshitomo carrying a bag full of premade dinners. The weasel-like man looked back and forth, left and right in paranoia before stepping out onto the sidewalk and heading in the general direction of the second abandoned building.

Kaito threw a sidelong smirk at Conan before scooping the sleuth up and putting him on his back like a baby monkey.

"Don't get too close, and don't stare at him," Conan whispered into Kaito's ear as the magician commenced pursuit.

"Does he look armed?" Kaito whispered back, doing his best not to look at Yamada while still following him.

"Nah. I think he's too spineless," Conan reported as he scanned the suspect. "Don't stand too close to him when we stop up here at the crosswalk and wait for the light. Don't draw attention."

"Chill," Kaito chuckled. "I've got it."

The tricky part came when Yamada turned off the busy main road and down a small side street. Kaito quickly scaled a fire escape, and the duo continued to tail their lead from the rooftops.

"That must be the place up there," Kaito hummed, seeing Yamada coming up on a little warehouse that didn't look like it got much use anymore. "I'm thinking we should sleep gas him, tie him up, and call the police to come get him," Kaito suggested.

Conan gave the nod as Kaito climbed down the building. "That will just leave us with one goon to worry about, and I've got a tranquilizer dart with his name on it."

"I'll leave Tanaka to you, then. I'm going straight for Hakuba…. Hopefully he's not dead."

"Don't worry. Yamada bought three dinners from the convenience store," Conan reassured as Kaito snuck up on Yamada from behind.

Kaito popped open a sleeping gas capsule and tossed it at the cook. In less than thirty seconds, the kidnapper was on the ground, sleeping like a baby. Kaito got out some handkerchiefs that were tied together and used them to bind Yamada's hands and feet.

Conan called in for backup while Kaito took care of the bad guy.

"What did they say?" Kaito inquired as he investigated the contents of the convenience store bag.

"They'll be here in ten minutes. They want us to stay where we are," Conan chuckled.

Kaito joined him in laughter. "Yeah, right. Let's go get Hakuba back."

Kaito approached this warehouse much how he had the last one, only this time he located the target and the suspect. Very cautiously Kaito lowered them both down onto the catwalk.

Tanaka was sitting on a crate watching TV with his back to Hakuba. The detective was currently chained to a metal support beam, looking a little worse for wear but very much alive.

Kaito happened to catch Hakuba's gaze, and the Brit's eyes went wide, like he couldn't believe what he was seeing. Kaito winked and put a finger to his lips.

Hakuba rolled his eyes. It wasn't like he could say much with the gag in his mouth.

Kaito picked up Conan and jumped over the railing, landing soundlessly in a crouch position.

Conan was amazed with the thief for the nth time that day.

"Don't get shot," Kaito whispered as he set the mini-tantei down to do his thing.

Conan snuck up behind the serial killer and was about to dart the creep when he decided that that would just be anticlimactic. "Hey, Mad Hatter!"

Tanaka whipped around, eyes going wide when he saw the boy.

"Say cheese," Conan chuckled, aiming a soccer ball right at the former butler's face.

Tanaka was knocked to the ground, seeing stars, by the force.

_Then_ Conan tranqed him, just to be on the safe side.

"Hey, Kuroba, you got anything else we could use to tie him up?" Conan called out to his partner.

"Nah, we can just use these chains once I get them off of Hakuba." Kaito shrugged going over to gawk at his friend. "Make sure you grab Tanaka's gun, Tantei-kun!"

"I'm on it!"

Kaito sidled up to Hakuba wearing a grin so big it would have done the Cheshire Cat proud. "Just look what we have here. Bondage. Sexy. Mind if I take a picture?"

Hakuba glared as Kaito took out his phone and snapped a quick pic.

"Right. Sorry. You've been tied up for a couple hours now." Kaito stuffed the phone in his pocket and set to work undoing the gag. "Better?"

"I knew you'd find me." Hakuba smiled weakly.

"Yep." Kaito rolled his eyes as he stepped around back to pick the locks on the chains. "Three…two…one." Kaito snapped his fingers, and the chains fell to the ground.

Hakuba Saguru almost went down with them. He was weak from the beating he'd taken and lack of a decent meal since breakfast.

Kaito helped to steady the detective and then slung Hakuba's arm over his shoulders so that Kaito could help support some of the weight. "I'm glad you're safe," Kaito whispered. "But as soon as you're better, I'm gonna sock you one for taking on a serial killer by yourself."

"By all means," Hakuba laughed softly. "Thank you for saving me, Kuroba."

Kaito rolled his eyes and smiled. "Tantei-kun helped. You can thank him later. For now I want to get you out of this warehouse. The police should be arriving any minute, but do you think you can walk with my help?"

"Of course." Hakuba consented to being half-carried out of the building.

True to their word, the police arrived only moments later. They took the still sleeping Yamada into custody, and some paramedics rushed Hakuba into their ambulance so that they could poke and prod and make sure everything was still where it was supposed to be. The cops were just about to go in and get Tanaka when a scream rang out.

It made Kaito's blood run cold because he knew that voice. "Tantei-kun!" He took off running back to the warehouse but stopped in his tracks when Tanaka stumbled out holding a gun to Conan's head.

"Stay back or the boy gets it," the Mad Hatter threatened. "Guns down. I've killed before and I won't hesitate to do it again."

The police looked at each other, unsure of what to do until Megure-keibu called out, "Guns down!"

Tanaka smirked, blood flowing from where Tantei-kun's soccer ball had knocked out a few teeth. The murderer started to back away, heading towards the alley leading back behind the warehouse and out to another side street. He was going to get away.

Kaito saw red. "Tantei-kun!" he screamed, getting out his card gun and aiming for Tanaka's hand.

The gun went flying, as Tanaka reeled back in pain.

In that moment of confusion, Kaito rushed Tanaka, sending him to the ground. "Let go," Kaito hissed, holding the card gun to Tanaka's throat. "They may just be cards, but at this range, they'd decapitate you in an instant. No one hurts my detectives."

Tanaka looked Kaito in the eye and let go of Conan.

The police were on Tanaka in a second, and Kaito quickly faded into the background and quietly made his getaway. He'd shown a few too many of his cards.

After Tanaka was apprehended, the police realized that Kaito was missing, and Hakuba and Conan were, naturally, questioned.

"That was the Kaitou Kid disguised as my classmate," Hakuba explained. "Don't waste your time trying to track him down. He'll most likely call in his witness statement later. If you'd like, you can question him directly after I capture him at a heist."

Sure enough, as they were down at the station giving their statements, a call came in from the Kaitou Kid about his involvement in the case that day.

Just when Conan was about to ask one of the officers for a ride home, Hakuba Saguru approached him, saying, "Edogawa-kun, if you'd like, you're invited to my house for an extremely late dinner."

"Uh, that's okay, Hakuba-san. I really have to get home. Ran-neechan is probably worried about me." Conan chuckled sheepishly. "Though, you know, do you think I could get Kuroba's phone number from you? There are still some things I'd really like to go over with him."

Hakuba smirked. "You can get it from him yourself, if you come to dinner. He'll be dropping by approximately thirty minutes after we arrive at my home."

Conan frowned. "He visits you a lot, doesn't he?"

The smirked changed into a fond smile. "He stalks me…. And I stalk him. It's a bit of a game. You'll understand when you're older."

Conan never wanted to understand. "Dinner sounds wonderful. Thank you."

Surely enough, about thirty minutes after they'd arrived at the Hakuba Manor, had had dinner, and had gone up to Hakuba's room, there was a knock at the sliding glass door that led out to the balcony.

"Come in," Hakuba called from where he sat at his desk, reorganizing the things that Kaito and Conan had left out.

"You could have unlocked the door for me," Kaito grumbled as he shut the door behind him and slipped on the guest shoes that had been placed next to the nightstand—Conan had wondered about those earlier.

"You pick that lock all the time." Hakuba rolled his eyes. "It takes less time for you to open the door using unconventional methods than it does for me to get up and unlock it for you."

Kaito stuck out his tongue as he came over to the desk area. "Hold out your hands, palms down."

Hakuba did as bid and received a sound slap on the backs of his hands for his trouble.

"Don't mess with serial killers," Kaito scolded.

Hakuba smiled. "Right. Serves me right. And thank you again."

"They could have _killed_ you, you know," the magician huffed as he plopped down on the couch next to Conan. He moved the smaller of the detectives onto his lap and rested his head on top of Conan's, squeezing the boy almost like a teddy bear.

"I had faith that you'd come for me within a day or so. To stall for time, I told them that I'd put all my research and deductions into a safe deposit box and mailed the code to the police. They had to keep me alive long enough to get the code."

"You have too much faith in me," Kaito sighed.

"I do not." Hakuba shrugged one shoulder, turning around so that he was facing away from the other too. "Kuroba, I firmly believe that you can do anything. So far, you've never let me down, so…I'm going to keep believing in you."

"You say the sappiest things," Kaito mumbled, hiding his face in Conan's hair.

"It's called sincerity," Hakuba snorted lightly. "You should get some…. You never say what you're really thinking and feeling. You're always hiding behind that mask of yours."

Kaito set his chin back on top of Conan's head and stared at the detective's back. "I guess I could learn to be a little more honest…with my _friends_ at least."

Hakuba turned slightly, trying to get a gauge on Kaito's facial expression without actually looking.

Kaito laughed. "Yeah, you count, Ru. Hey, I'm gonna take Tantei-kun home, but I'll be back in an hour, okay?"

Hakuba turned and genuinely smiled. "I'll see you in a bit, then. Shall I make some popcorn?"

"With nuts and chocolate?" Kaito sat up a little straighter.

"Is there any other way to make popcorn?" The blonde jokingly rolled his eyes.

"Sweet. Back in a jiffy. Try not to miss me too much." Kaito winked. "Let's go, Tantei-kun."

"I'll anxiously await your return, then." Hakuba shook his head before turning to Conan. "It was a pleasure having dinner with you, Edogawa-kun, and thank you again for helping to rescue me…and for putting up with _him_ all day." Hakuba bowed in gratitude.

"The pleasure was all mine!" Conan returned the bow. "Thank you for dinner. You have a very lovely house."

"Oh, before I forget," Kaito piped up. "The cook. Was he involved in the other crimes too, or just the arson case? I don't get his involvement; he didn't seem like the type of guy that could actually kill."

"Ah, that." Hakuba nodded. "Yamada was involved with the young mistress, but she broke things off, breaking the poor man's heart. He agreed to help Tanaka kill her by keeping watch and fabricating an alibi for Tanaka. When I started interviewing suspects again, Tanaka probably told Yamada that if Tanaka were caught, Yamada would be charged as an accomplice in the other Mad Hatter murders as well, so, with a little persuasion, Yamada agreed to help silence me."

"I see," Kaito hummed. "Cool. Thanks for clearing that up."

With that, Conan was placed back on Kaito's back like a baby koala, and they exited out the balcony door.

"You're not going to jump off this perfectly good balcony, are you?" Conan deadpanned.

"What good are heights if not to jump from?" Kaito grinned like a shark and took a running leap. He caught a tree branch and gracefully worked his way to the ground from there.

"You're like a monkey." Conan shook his head, but he had to admit that he was a little impressed with Kuroba's acrobatic skill. "Let's go get my shoes so that I can walk."

Kaito pouted. "But I like carrying you."

"Fine, but I still need those shoes. They're…special," Conan decided upon for lack of a better word.

"That professor guy made them for you?" Kaito guessed.

"How do you know about the Professor?" Conan cast a suspicious look at his companion.

Kaito grinned sheepishly. "The possibility exists that you may have been investigated for Kid-related purposes."

Conan sighed and shook his head. "Whatever."

They retrieved the shoes and headed toward the Mouri Detective Agency, making small talk as they went.

When they finally arrived, Kaito paused in front of the staircase and set Conan down. "Well…looks like this is the end of the line."

"Yeah," Conan replied awkwardly, tracing a circle on the ground with his toe.

"Thanks again for all of your help today, Tantei-kun. I couldn't have done this without you." Kaito bowed deeply. "I would have been lost without you."

"Don't worry about it. I'm happy to help. I mean, Kid's helped me out on occasion, and I sort of had fun investigating with you today. Usually I'm doing it while trying not to get caught by the grownups or trying to corral three gradeschoolers while piecing the clues together. Having you with me today was…nice."

"I kind of had fun too," Kaito chuckled, scratching the back of his neck. "You detectives sure work hard, but you make it look so easy. I don't think I could do it myself, but…I wouldn't mind playing detective's assistant again."

"Kuroba, I was wondering if you'd want to get coffee or something together sometime. I'd like the chance to hang out with you again outside of a heist." Conan swallowed hard.

Kaito smiled. "Sure. I'd like that a lot."

"Could I get your number?" Conan inquired hopefully.

"You betcha." Kaito pulled out his phone and bent over so that he could touch his phone's sensor to Conan's.

As the data transferred from phone to phone, Conan took a deep breath, leaned forward, and placed a tentative kiss on Kaito's lips.

The magician blinked in confusion, but he didn't pull back or recoil in disgust.

"Sorry!" Conan backed away holding his hands up. "I shouldn't have done that. It's just…you're really cool, and I kind of find you attractive, but I know that you and Hakuba-san are…are…"

Kaito grinned, placing a finger over Conan's lips. "Saguru and I are complicated at best…. And I'd _very_ much like to get coffee with you sometime." With a smirk and a wink, Kaito stood up and turned to walk away, humming. "Night, night, Tantei-kun~!"

Conan smiled softly. "Good night…Kuroba Kaito."

The

End

…

(^)3

Mikau: It's a duck! (The three is the bill.) How was it? There are some parts that I'm not 100% satisfied with, but, for the most part, I'm happy with how it turned out. I'm sad to see it end, though. Feel free to write in with omake requests. I love making you guys happy, and I like writing from prompts, so if you have anything else you'd like to see from me, just ask, and I'll try my best to work it into an omake chapter. For everyone else, I'm interested in knowing what you thought, so let me know what you liked/what could have been better/what was funny/what was lame, etc. Thanks so much for reading, guys. I hope we meet again! Until then, take care!


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